It might not have ended this way. There was the mutinous interview in a portacabin in the Ageas Bowl. The calf strain that forced him to miss the India series two years ago. The frustration of the Ashes series he canceled, as well as a glaring exclusion from the group that visited the Caribbean.
However, Stuart Broad has been confronted with his temporality as a Test cricketer numerous times over the course of his 16-year career and has always replied in the same way. Broad was a self-improvement guru who was continuously reinventing himself. It was the only way to live, and Broad was an excellent survivor.
This was a fitting conclusion. Broad was primarily a showman, a wonderful performer who played to the gallery, and his bail-switch that followed his firing of Todd Murphy was another piece of pantomime that only he could pull off in the midst of a frantic final-day run chase.
And yet, there was another side to Broad, one that was more difficult to discern from the public persona who pumped up the audience, wore a bandana out of superstition, and was a superb comedian as well as a batsman.
Behind closed doors, he was a careful thinker about the game, regarded as “the best tactician that I’ve been lucky enough to coach” by his Nottinghamshire and ex-England coach Peter Moores. With two left-handers causing problems for England, Ben Stokes tossed the ball to Broad.
“You’ve seen the way he bowls at them,” said Stokes. Broad used to take 71 wickets at 41.11 against left-handed batters before 2015. But, in preparation for the Ashes series that summer, he changed his default angle from over the wicket to around; since 2015, he has dismissed 122 left-handers at 24.85.
“That’s just part of my personality,” Broad said. “I’ve never been a great trainer.” I need to have something to aim for in training all the time to keep myself motivated. I need a new ability to work on; otherwise, I might float through training a little.”
After tea, Broad bowled exclusively from around the wicket, provoking frequent plays-and-misses; two consecutive Murphy deliveries triggered his bail-switch in an attempt to reverse his luck. “I just kept saying, ‘Keep bowling the same ball over and over again,'” recalled Stokes.
After Murphy fell behind, Broad created two final chances.
Broad created two final chances after Murphy fell behind. Carey nicked him to second slip, where Zak Crawley dropped a difficult low catch before edging through to Bairstow in Broad’s subsequent over. Both balls were late Broad classics, angling in before nipping away off the seam to remove the edge.
Broad’s aim to minimize his “leave percentage,” a figure that is rarely mentioned publicly by anyone other than him, is another characteristic of his self-improvement. Moores told Broad four years ago that Nottinghamshire analyst Kunal Manek had seen an increase in the proportion of his deliveries that batters left alone.
“I now judge myself on how much I make a batsman play in a day,” Broad stated during the 2019 Ashes series. “If I’m bowling poorly, my leave percentage will be 30%; I’m getting left 30% of the time.” If I bowl well, it will be 16 percent or 17 percent.”
On his last day as a Test cricketer, it was only 8%: Australia’s hitters left only seven of the 88 balls he delivered. Broad may be unaware of that statistic as he celebrates his farewell on Monday night, but there is one that makes him the most proud: his 153 wickets against Australia, the most by an Englishman and a record that may never be broken.
Broad downplayed his chances of playing anything more than a minor role in the run-up to this match. Instead, he was the only England bowler to appear in all five Tests, completed the summer as their leading wicket-taker, and took center stage as six weeks of drama culminated in the series’ concluding moments.
If there is such a thing as fate in sports, Stuart Broad was not going to go gently. “I’m not too emotional, to be honest,” he admitted shortly after sealing England’s victory. “Those last two wickets proved to me that I still enjoyed taking wickets because I ran around like a headless chicken.” I still feel that way about winning Test matches.
“Taking a wicket to win an Ashes Test match on my final ball will make me smile for the rest of my life,” he continued. “It will sink in after the dust settles.” It’s still not really convincing. I told the boys I couldn’t recall what I said. I didn’t feel like I was in my own body at first, but I do now.”
Broad made an unusual admission on Saturday night: “I know I am not the most skilled player that has ever played,” he admitted. If his eventual Test bowling average of 27.68 does not win him a position among the game’s best fast bowlers, his longevity will—longevity secured by his self-avowed passion for the game.
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